Troy Mayor Lou Rosamilia says 67 properties on the property tax rolls in those towns are really in the city. He has aerial photos to back up his claim and is ready to go to court for millions of dollars in lost revenue.

In Brunswick, Supervisor Philip Herrington is fighting back. The assessment on some 24 acres at Troy's Frear Park Golf Course has been raised. Instead paying taxes on $7,900 worth of property, Troy can look forward to getting taxed on $550,000. A $320 tax bill will grow to $7,800.

Where does it stop? When does the golf course cease being more like a rugby pitch?

A hint: Perhaps when someone with the clout of Mr. Rosamilia or Mr. Herrington says the coded word: regionalization

Meanwhile, one has to wonder how taxing this tax battle will be on taxpayers.

A living laboratory

It would be good enough news to hear that the erstwhile Union Station, now known as Peter D. Kiernan Plaza, was getting a new tenant. It's even more intriguing that the one-time Albany train station will become an incubator for tech companies working to make cities more efficient.

Doesn't hurt, either, that the building will bring some 250 jobs downtown, including 150 new ones, and pay its full shot of taxes for the next 15 years.

Put a leash on 'em

Anthony Walker is very lucky that he's not heading to prison. That what's Buster's Law stipulates for such wanton animal abusers. Still, he's done six months in jail and now will be on probation for five years for first abandoning three baby pit bulls on railroad tracks in Albany and then dumping four more dogs in a U-Haul trailer. It's not Mr. Walker's sentence that's the issue here. It's the need for even tougher animal protection laws.